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Friday, June 22, 2007

Aap Ki Farmaayish

The title is a hark back to the good old days of AIR and Vividh Bharti, where Ameen Sayani or one of his innumerable clones would read out “Patiala se Neetu, Chintu, Dabboo,Babita aur unke saathi, Haldwani se Sumeet Saigal, Avinash Wadhawan, Rahul Roy aur unke dost, Kalkatta se Deepak Parashar, Vinod Khanna aur Pran…” before telling us we will be hearing “Mohammed Rafi aur Suman Kalyanpur ke awaaz mein, Gulzar ke geet, Roshan ke suron se saja Aflatoon film ka gaana…”Likewise, this is an attempt to consolidate all the interesting requests I have got in the Comments on what to write on next! Some of them are eminently doable and will never get done because of my laziness. Some are rather esoteric and will happen when I am getting bored in some faraway hotel room… so apologies in advance for the ones I won’t be doing!

Anonymous: Post on Indo-Anglian fiction by Parsis.This sounds a bit like Mastermind topics (Rulers of England between 1097-1106). But since I have read all of one book by Rohinton Mistry, I will have to let this pass! But if you give me an easier topic and leave a name next time, I will try harder to oblige.

Raven: Post on best sports movies of all times.International cinema is just not my scene. I watch English movies only sporadically so I am simply not the guy who can write on best sports movies. Maybe my top sporting memories. But then that would hardly be interesting...

Mad Momma: Post on mixed background kids.Hmm... interesting premise. Wait a sec, do you mean mixed background kids generally or in Bollywood? Cannot think of too many right now but I am sure some thoughts would arise some time or the other...Oh-kay, one thought arises in the form of a question for you (and others as well): Which famous Bombay couple have twin sons by the name of Kamal Bashir and Kabir Narayan?(Post your answers in Comments.)

Cute Chunky Chick: Post on Goan Catholics.Though you probably meant about their pronunciation but I think I will extend it to Goan Catholics in Bollywood instead! Some very interesting characters, lots of stereotypes... and even some moral dilemmas faced by Catholics! Coming soon to a screen near you!And boy, modesty is just not your thing, eh?

Rimi: Post on children's fiction in Bengali.Well, for one thing, I started re-reading all my Feluda and Prof Shonku collections post your request and thought of writing in detail on some of my favourite authors. Though when I get down to writing it, it will probably in the form of my favourite books from my childhood.On a related note, recently Spaniard wrote about a Nostalgia Challenge about whether we have over-rated notions about books we read in our childhood. I, for one, have only lovely memories… but then I was reading primarily in Bengali!

Make that "My post, please". You just don't realise, do you, the pleasure of comparing notes on books read ages back? You can debate finer point and little details, argue favourites -- so much fun. Come now, the post! Pretty please.